COLORADO - DAY 13 - OCTOBER 3, 2023

Today Abby gets to see her 5th national park!  Oh yeah, Walt too.

We got up early today because after being cooped up for 2 days we're ready to get out of our travel trailer that seemed to be shrinking by the minute.  It's a good thing we get along so well!

So over to Mesa Verde National Park we go!  No timed entry permit needed here.

First stop, the visitor center to get our National Park Passport stamp.

Off in the distance we could see snow on the mountains.

Everything here is so green!

Our view of the valley below from one of the lookout spots.

Take note, we're dressed a little warmer here.

There's just something about a dead tree.

Must be some kind of beetle that came through the park because there a LOT of dead trees here.

When we got up higher we ran into SNOW!

View from another lookout.

These trees just don't make for a nice view while driving through the park.

We finally made it to the section that I wanted to see the most.  I had hoped we could get up close and personal with these ruins but the tours with the park ranger were already sold out.

The Pueblo ruins date back 700 + years.

I'm glad they are only accessible by way of a tour.  I can only imagine what they would look like if open to the public.

One more picture from near the top.

We didn't spend a lot of time in this park.  To  tell you the truth, neither one of us was impressed with Mesa Verde except for the ruins.  After seeing Zion, Bryce, Arches and Canyonland, well, this was just so ho-hum.

Since it was early in the day still we decided to go see something else that wasn't too far away.

As we were headed to our next destination we saw these very, very large "gullies" along side the road.  There had to be a tremendous amount of water coming through here to make these.

By the way, we're in New Mexico for the next stop.

We're visiting the Four Corners Monument.  The place where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet.

Here's Walt and I standing in all four states.  There was a fellow standing up on a ledge taking pictures for everyone who wanted one.  I have no idea how long he was there before we arrived but he just kept taking everyone's cameras and phones and snapped away.

Walt standing in all four states at the same time.

If one of us does, the other has to too.

All four states....

We took the time to check out all the little shops that were open but they all sold the same thing.  Jewelry, dream catchers, Christmas tree balls and leather goods.  We didn't buy anything.  All of the vendors were very friendly and each one greeted us with a smile and hello.

We came.  We saw.  I took pictures.

On the way back "home" we saw this rock that seems to have just risen out of the ground.

So this was our time in Mesa Verde, Colorado.  Not the most pleasant part of our trip but it is what it is.  We're glad we got to see Mesa Verde National Park, though we weren't impressed, and the Four Corners.

Tomorrow we move on to the next adventure.